Brent Petway has never been a fan of layups.
That’s why the Michigan forward puts on his own personal slam dunk contests before every Wolverines home game.
“When I came (to Michigan), they told me it’s part of warmups to do layups,” Petway said. “But I like to dunk.”
Arriving early to watch Petway in warmups has become a fan tradition at Michigan. Petway normally begins his routine 45 minutes before tipoff and continues until the 20-minute mark, when the team returns to the locker room.
Because dunking in warmups is a technical foul, Petway performs his sideshow only before the referees — and his coaches — enter the arena.
“I don’t know how it got started,” Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. “I’m not out there. I’ve heard a few statements about it, and I probably need to come out there and take it away.”
Petway has become a favorite of the Wolverines’ student section, the Maize Rage. The students also are the originators of Petway’s nickname, Air Georgia. Petway is a Georgia native and wears No. 23 in honor of Michael Jordan.
“It gets real crazy,” Petway said. “I just try to do any of the dunks I see on TV.”
Even though none of Petway’s teammates have ever tried to challenge his one-man slam fest, the pre-game ritual doesn’t rile up just the Michigan fans.
“His dunks don’t just excite the crowd, they excite us also,” said wing Lester Abram, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury. “I sometimes get caught up watching. That gets you ready out on the court and gets the team going.”
Standing at 6-foot-8, Petway has been known to touch the top of the backboard during warmups, which would give him nearly a 36-inch vertical.
But Petway isn’t the first Michigan player with tremendous dunking ability. LaVell Blanchard, who played his high school basketball just down the block from Crisler Arena at Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School, graduated from Michigan two years ago in the top 10 in career scoring.
“LaVell Blanchard could dunk with some of the best of them, too,” forward Graham Brown said. “But it’s a little bit greater of a leap with Brent because there’s so much more finesse with him. I don’t know if he’s getting so much higher, but it is a little bit of a shock with him that he does some of the stuff that he does.”
Petway uses this insane leaping ability for shot blocking as well. He is second on the team with 38 blocks, giving him an average of 1.5 swats per game.
Petway also has improved dramatically from last season, during which he saw action in just 13.5 minutes in 33 games and finished the season with 3.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
But with the graduation of forwards Bernard Robinson Jr., and Colin Dill, Petway was thrust into the limelight this season.
“He’s confident with his jump shot now,” Abrams said. “He always could shoot, but I don’t think he really had the confidence to shoot it last year. This year he has shown us that he can make the jump shot, mid-range and even 3-pointers.”
Primarily coming off the bench in 26 games this season, Petway has averaged 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 21 minutes per game.
“He’s worked on building up his game past (dunking),” Brown said. “He’s worked on just making the short, easy basket under the rim. He’s also worked on his jump shot and dribbling. He’s done a great job with that this year and worked hard in the offseason.”
But Petway will always be known fondly by fans and teammates alike as the guy who gets everyone pumped with his show-stopping dunking and leaping ability.
“Brent is a high-energy player,” Amaker said. “And not just because he dunks the ball, but because he plays with an enthusiasm and a passion. He’s one of those players that he loves to be out there. He loves to be in the gym, whether there’s a game with 12,000 people or it’s after practice having his own dunk contest.”
Reach Zach Silka at [email protected].
